Thierry Henry is plan A, B and C for the Red Bulls

Most teams in the league would love to have the luxury problem of having plundered 9 goals in two games - including a captain's hat trick and 8 goals shared between their two front men, but this New York side are performing a high wire act with their dependence on Thierry Henry. Henry was an irresistible force once again against Montreal - scoring his first MLS hat-trick and creating another for Medhi Ballouchy with the sweetest of backheels, prompting midfielder Dax McCarty to state after the game that:

"He's fitter than I've ever seen him - the guy is an animal. He's literally as close to unstoppable as it comes in this league - especially the way he's playing now."

.But New York didn't have it all their own way. As Coach Hans Backe stated in his post-game press conference: "It was a gift to go in at half time with the tie." In front of an impressive and vocal contingent of traveling fans, Montreal had harried and pressed New York the entire first half, and continually looked to play in the energetic Nyassi - who perhaps had memories of a hat trick of his own against New York (for Colorado) last season. Nyassi started alongside Corradi up front, rather than Justin Braun, but the first half resembled the ignoring-of-the-script act that Braun (with his own hat trick) and Chivas had carried out to derail the Red Bulls, after their promising start last year. Just as Chivas had done in New York, Montreal led twice, with goals plundered down the weak right side of New York's defense. They were also pegged back twice - the second coming from a timely Cooper penalty (his only significant contribution of a quiet first half) just before half time, with New York looking second-best in midfield. Unlike Chivas however, Montreal couldn't regain the lead and were swept away in the second half. The half time introduction of Tainio, for the injured Marquez, shored up the center - though it also pointed to a worry about the midfield that may concern Backe as he reflects on the match.

Marquez had dropped very deep throughout the first half, but there were few outlets for him in midfield to pass to. Without him there, McCarty was outmanned in the center ("stranded" and "an island" were two phrases he used to describe the phenomenon later) while Richards and Lindpere looked worryingly isolated out wide and seemingly unwilling/unable to tuck inside to give Marquez more choices to link up play to the attack. There's an argument that this is a function of so much of New York's effective play this year going through the middle, and ignoring the flanks entirely, especially when Henry drops to pick up the ball. After their progress over the last two seasons, Lindpere and Richards both look to have reached a plateau. The critical focus has tended to be on the defensive errors of Miller and slow start of Solli behind them, but whatever truth there is in those claims, the fourth New York goal, with Solli working an effective overlap with Richards to cut back for Henry's flick, was surprising as much for looking like an unfamiliar throwback to the last two seasons' effective wing play, as it was for the inventive finish.

With Agudelo dealing with a torn meniscus injury and Luke Rodgers visa finally denied, the margin for error in attack is fine and the Red Bulls need their wingers to chip in with their share of goals and for the balance of the team to reflect their potential to do so. Henry was characteristically dismissive of his own hat trick ("I actually don't care. I care about how bad we played in the first half"), but those around him know that if he weren't available, the drop off to plan B is a pretty steep one. Speaking about the Rodgers' situation in the media room before the game, General Manager Erik Soler was hopeful that since "we have a little more money than we had a couple of days ago" that someone could be brought in before the April 15 deadline who could feasibly play straight away. That's a must. But if the Red Bulls aren't to be an injury away from disaster, they need their whole team playing effectively now and they need to learn from the first half of this game, as much as they celebrate the events of the second. GP

LA's 'stacked' team is still too top heavy

Omar Gonzalez's stature grows faster in his absence than it ever did during even his most celebrated performances last season. Without him at the heart of the LA defense, they look shockingly porous, and the belief that their impressive forward firepower will always outscore the opposition looks an impossible one to maintain, after they fell to yet another home defeat on Saturday. As the rain lashed down at the Home Depot Center, LA were taken apart by a New England side who could hardly have expected to score three goals, let alone three from the edge of the six yard box - yet that's precisely what they did. First the rookie Kelyn Rowe was allowed two attempts to hammer past Saunders at point blank range, then Tierney swept home after Alston had split the flat-footed LA defense. Finally Sene got between the center backs to head the killer third goal just after the hour and leave Bruce Arena fuming.

Keane got one back and LA tried to press on the back of that, but New England not only had a defense that compared favorably to LA's, but were good value in midfield too, perhaps as the nervousness in the Galaxy's back line undermined their attacking instincts. David Beckham started in the center of midfield, but when the platform that midfield is built on is already looking shaky, he's not a central midfielder you look to for his defensive prowess.

If anything, whisper it, Beckham probably cost LA offensively (notwithstanding one typical curled free kick that Reis had to tip away smartly), as Michael Stephens consistently dropped narrow to cover for him, negating LA's width. Bruce Arena seemed to realize that at half time and Beckham was tactically substituted, as LA labored to get back into the game, but by then the damage was done.

Credit where credit's due of course - just as Ben Olsen did with DC's emphatic 4-1 victory over Dallas the night before, New England's young coach Jay Heaps was able to record a famous victory on behalf of the team he once played for, as his side played with verve and desire. It was a victory that was remarkable not just for the scale of the defeat over the defending champions, but because New England came into this game not having won in this timezone since August 20 2009, when they eked out a 1-0 win at the then fresh expansion side Seattle. Now they've won two in a row over supposedly superior Western opposition, and like DC, will feel that their season starts now.

If LA, coming off a rest week, thought that their encounter with DC had arrested their own early season malaise, Saturday night suggested that that 3-1 victory was an aberration rather than the resumption of normal service. For all their abundance of riches up front, the Galaxy's championship form last season owed much to knowing that when things were tight, they could score once and kill the game - nine times last regular season they won 1-0. They're always capable of scoring, but it's the shoring (up) that's the problem right now. Sporting Kansas City await next week...GP

Sporting Kansas City are finding ways to win

While grinding out 1-0 results is a knack last season's Supporters Shield winners have temporarily mislaid, this year's early pacesetters, Sporting Kansas City, turned up at the Home Depot Center a day after Revolution, to show the locals how it's done. Chivas USA, fresh from an unexpected road trip victory at Real Salt Lake, actually started marginally the brighter, with the English winger Ryan Smith making some effective darts and Casey Townsend showing signs of the same opportunism he had shown in netting the winner at RSL. But as the first half wore on the home side's ambitions receded and they played much more like an away team - conceding the ball and width to Sporting KC and compressing the defense and midfield lines of their 4-4-2 into the last third of the pitch. In doing so they were doing what many sides tried to do to LA last season and what Sporting KC can come to expect as the season goes on - basically inviting the Eastern Conference leaders on and giving them a defensive puzzle to solve. For the rest of that first half, Sporting duly tried to play their way through, staying patient, as Myers and Sinovic got forward on the flanks. Enter Graham Zusi, who two minutes after half time, forsook patience in favor of the Gordian knot approach - crashing a long range shot off the Chivas bar then reaching the rebound first. His smart sideways header fed CJ Sapong to easily nod in the winner from a couple of yards.

It looked like a mid-season performance by a confident leading team, but Sporting KC have played only four games. They've won all of them, to preserve the last 100% record in the league and sit on 12 points - last season it took them till the middle of June to reach that tally. It's the first time they've started a season 4-0-0 and winning this game puts one doubt to rest - the only team in MLS history to blow a 3-0-0 start and miss the playoffs was the Kansas City Wizards in 2006...

Sporting KC are methodically beating the teams put in front of them, however they set up. The team that did that last year will face them at LiveStrong Park on Saturday. Bring on LA...GP

Earthquakes shake West

With three wins out of their first four games, the San Jose Earthquakes are making quite a name for themselves in the Western conference.

Chris Wondolowski slammed home the winning penalty against Seattle on Saturday night — awarded in the 24th minute after striker Steven Lenhart was pushed off the ball — to grab his fourth of the campaign and seal San Jose's second straight shutout win.

English-born Canadian Frank Yallop has had great success in past MLS seasons while in charge of San Jose, but few believed his new look side would be sitting joint top of the West with Real Salt Lake after the first month of the 2012 season. Yallop led the 'Quakes to two MLS Cups — in 2001 and 2003 — and coached the Canadian national team and LA before returning for a second stint in charge of SJ in 2008.

Last season his side languished in the lower reaches of the West for much of the campaign, but winds of change started to blow over the Bay area towards the end of the year, with the 'Quakes suffering just two defeats in their final nine games.

In the tough surroundings of Seattle's CenturyLink Field, San Jose's starting lineup on Saturday included 6 players who were starters during their final game of 2011. However new additions Marvin Chavez and Shea Salinas on the wings have added an extra dimension, supplying dangerous deliveries that Toronto, New England and now Seattle have struggled to cope with. San Jose's newfound attacking prowess is in stark contrast to the majority of last year, apart from the final few months when the building blocks began to slot together for Yallop's new look side.

The catalyst for their late season success in 2011 was Wondolowski. The clinical striker scored 16 times but agonizingly missed out on the MLS golden boot after Dwayne De Rosario also scored 16 goals…but won the award due to having more assists than Wondo. The California native is crucial to the Earthquakes - one of only two players in MLS History to score more than 40% of his team's goals over a two-year span (Taylor Twellman at New England being the other).

.Wondolowski was called up to the US national team for camps over the offseason and his superb form has carried over into this term. Yet one of the reasons San Jose are now a more formidable outfit is down to the reappearance of his strike partner: Steven Lenhart.

The 6-foot-1 striker missed a large chunk of last season to care for his family after the death of his father. At the time Lenhart was San Jose's second top scorer with five goals and led the team in assists with three after the first 14 games. The Earthquakes offensive production noticeably tailed off after his departure. On Saturday night he was a constant pest to Seattle's defense, leaving his foot in, flailing his arms when contesting balls in the air and generally getting confrontational with every Sounder he could get close to. In previous games Yallop has defended his striker and has accused referee's for targeting him.

Love him or hate him he has certainly helped to change the fortunes of San Jose from basement boys to potential playoff contenders. Of course, with a little help from his buddy Wondo too. JPW

Defense is the new attack

Vancouver are the only MLS side yet to concede a goal in 2012 and are third in the Western Conference as a result. They are closing in on the MLS record for consecutive minutes without conceding a goal — the current record is 421 set by the New York Red Bulls in 2007 — yet their stacked offense was expected to make all the headlines this season: Eric Hassli, Davide Chiumiento, Camillo, Long Tan, Darren Mattocks and Sebastien Le Toux. Yet Martin Rennie's forwards have yet to flourish, with Vancouver scoring just three times in their opening four games.

In the City of Brotherly love, perhaps Le Toux showed too much to his former side on Saturday. In the 82nd minute the Frenchman raced clear one on one with Zac MacMath. It was the Whitecaps best chance of the match but Le Toux horribly skewed his finish into the stands. The former favorite son of the "Sons of Ben" supporters group received a positive reception throughout from the Philadelphia fans, yet he was disappointed to not condemn his old teammates to a fourth straight loss to open up the MLS season.

"I'm very disappointed with myself. You know I wanted to get the win here, and unfortunately we didn't. I had the two biggest chances on the team. I have to be better. I'm really very disappointed about them."

Quel dommage, as they say in France.

Missed chances aside, Vancouver's stingy defense has been praised by pundits across the country. Anchored by influential captain Jay DeMerit and enhanced by fellow veterans Joe Cannon and Lee Young-Pyo, the Whitecaps will prove hard to break down, especially with midfielders Matt Watson and John Thorrington clogging up space in front of the back four. Yet it will all be to waste if their misfiring offense doesn't get going sooner rather than later.

The point was their first of the season. For large periods the Union pressed Vancouver, forcing Cannon to make several reflex stops. Their best chances came just after the break from crosses whipped in from their right flank. First Carlos Valdes' instinctive finish struck the post, and then Brian Carroll rushed his volley at the back post when he should have done better.

Despite seeing his side push for the winner, the most pleasing aspect for Peter Nowak must have been his team's defensive performance. After shipping five goals in their first two games of the season, the Union have conceded just once in their last 180 minutes of play. And with the return of skipper Danny Califf — after his controversial exclusion from the Union's home opener against Colorado — Philadelphia looked composed at the back, except from the two times Le Toux sprung the offside trap.

With 20-year-old goalie MacMath finding his feet and the central defensive partnership of Califf and Valdes reunited, it seems as though defense is the way forward for the Union. Last season they relied on it to finish second in the East, conceding the second lowest total in the league, 36, with nine shutouts along the way. However last season they had Le Toux to propel their offense. Who can Philadelphia rely on this term? Perhaps, one question at a time, defense first is the key for Nowak's men at the moment. JPW

Leander Schaerlaeckens: Luke Rodgers played for Port Vale and Shrewsbury Town before becoming a cult hero as Thierry Henry's striking partner at the New York Red Bulls. Now his US visa application has been turned down and he's heading to Lillestrom